Disclaimer: I didn't create the characters, nor the game, nor SOME situations.

CHAPTER 3: "TRAINING"

"Come in" Snake ordered. The door opened. The tall man entered, with his light brownish hair sticking up.

"Sir." Bill Sharp went in, with his officer suit in perfect state. His brown eyes were almost all the time half closed. He stumbled in, Snake could notice he walked perfectly, even when he was relaxing he moved like if he was being watched by a Instructor Sergeant. "May I have a word with you?"

Snake raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Take sit."

"Commander, " Bill talked in a humble way while he began to sit in front of Snake's desk. "I've noticed" He paused again. "this squad is formed up with the relatives of the people behind the two most destructive terrorist attacks in the history of fucking mankind."

Snake wanted to correct him by telling him of The Patriots, but he then remembered. The place was fucking bugged. "So? Those guys. they don't seem dangerous" Snake looked to his sides, and leaned towards William. "I had a son of a bitch right next to me holding a High Power Sniper Rifle, whom I shot his sister in the head with fucking .45! The poor bastard didn't even look at me! They are harmless!"

"Tell that to the Foxhounders." Bill mocked. "The point is this guys are fucking pros. The "Son of a bitch" you had next to ya was goddamn CIA trained Peshmerga. He knows, and I bet his partners know, that they shouldn't attack when you are expecting it. Those shit-heads are going to blast your skull when they get the smallest chance."

"Bill, here I thought you felt compassion for those guys" Snake asked.

"Well, I'm just telling ya' you have to be careful. Later tonight, you are having interviews with that bunch of pricks. I just don't want the legend ending up with a 9mm slug on his face thanks to some traitorous bastard."

"I'll be OK" Snake talked slowly. "I've blasted through some of those kids relatives."

"Right. Sorry sir."

"Knock, knock" The door sounded.

"Well, I gotta go. Just be careful." Bill said as he got up and left. Dr. Hanson came in. He was small man, with a bit of a round shape and the same kind of glasses Otacon wore. His reddish hair was always short, and he walked way more dumbly than William.

"Hey. Ur. Sir." Not matter how smart Dr. Hanson was, he absolutely the clumsy kind of guy. Sort of like Otacon four years before. He sort of lost that part of himself. In Shadow Moses.

"What is it?"

He touched quickly his digital watch. "Time to go." It was time to the interviews with his squad.

The corridors of the HQ were long, and dark. Snake thought that it was crazy, he was director of a unit, and he didn't even know where he was. He now remembered why the trip was short between New York and that place. It had hit him when he saw one of his men, Sean Rodriguez, training with a modified version of the Beretta M92FS, an M9-T, designed to shoot neutralizing darts. He had been knocked unconscious, and he had woken up in that helicopter. Where?

He didn't have the chance to speak with either Otacon or Raiden in private since the exercise along with Neo-Foxhound. He realized the drug that they gave him was very powerful: Otherwise he would have remembered what happened before. He couldn't even see the moment when he had eaten the dart, he only remembered falling knocked out (Probably after Otacon) in a very dark alley in Queens, and waking up in a military chopper.

Another thing that disturbed him was Raiden's behavior. He was acting. Weird. It was very unlikely he had passed from a rookie to a weapons expert in a couple of months. He had grown through the Big Shell incident? Maybe yes, Maybe not. And what about his motivation? Didn't he hate the Patriots? Didn't he have a wife? Didn't have a child? One last thought crossed Snake's mind. Black-Mail.

They walked slowly, taking their time, in a British style. It was in a perfect state, everything clean. Whenever he moved, he could saw a bunch of low rank staff personnel. He didn't really pay attention to them, but hell, Bill was right. He had to keep his eyes open. He remembered, The Patriots are out there.

"So, I was never told, where are we?" Snake asked silently,.

"In the command center, sir." Hanson responded confused.

"I know, I mean, where, geographically?"

Hanson looked sideways, suspiciously. "We are in Fort Meade, Maryland."

Three word filled Snake's mind when he heard "Fort Meade": National Security Agency.

"Fort Meade? We are in the NSA 's territory?" Stared at the psychologist.

"Well, some years before, Fox-Hound had very close relations to CIA, you now. There fore, Eclipse, which has an Anti-Terrorist role, is highly supported by the National Security Counsel and the NSA. Besides, they are the ones which provide us with espionage equipment and they take care of our encoded communications. I don't know much more, You should ask our Technological Advisor, for that. "

"Will do." Snake was lying. Everything was too perfect. No problems in the chain of command, Fishy attitudes, being so near the NSA headquarters, etc. He had to investigate. He had to find out what was going on. But he had to make time.

"Dr, you talk to the privates later, may I have a word only with the officers?"

"Bogart, Machuttes and Slervansk?"

"Exactly."

"I'll call em."

---

Otacon had a lot of work to do. He had just received a package (One of more than 3 tons, actually) from FOX-HOUND: A VR simulation system. It had been there for a while, but it would take an FOX-HOUND specialist to put it up and running, but an MIT graduate could operate it after reading the instructions. Otacon had.

The system, which was basically a set of six chairs (that looked like the ones of the Dentists) with helmets on top, looked futuristic. There, the VR troopers would get in and enter. The seats were connected to a console, controlled by an operator, in this case him. The trick of being the operator is just check the enemy AI works. and that none of the brains of the troopers gets fried.

In Otacon's opinion, Snake would enjoy seeing the Eclipse operatives blasting through their relatives in Shadow Moses or Big Shell simulations, which Otacon certainly wouldn't enjoy. The best excuse for doing such thing would be showing the kind of threats Eclipse would be engaging, but the Shadow Moses and Big Shell simulations would be great to experience the chaos and psychological mayhem Eclipse was ought to face. And destroy.

OK. The VR system worked Ok, but they would probably test it tomorrow, probably in a Shadow Moses simulation. He had no idea how Snake was going to react about that. Of course, it had been the closest picture Snake and Otacon had to hell, and neither of them could determine which one was worse, and both of them sometimes thought they would never shake the memories, the nightmares away.

---

In a short walk that took them less than two minutes, Corporal Bob Bogart, Sergeant First Joshua Machuttes and Master Sergeant Elijah Slervansk, walk from the officer barracks to Dr. Hanson's office, conveniently near each other, since Hanson was, besides being the psychological advisor, he was also the troop's counselor. Joshua never actually considered going to the counselor, he wasn't the "emotional" kind of guy, and he had earned the "Shoot first, never ask questions" fame very quickly among the ranks.

Bogart had been there a couple of times, he was very nervous at the beginning of the ride. He was one of the very few members of Eclipse with no military or Law Enforcement experience, and he wasn't enjoying much to be trained in Explosives "because of his genes", but, when the training began, it kind of wore off. It was scary, he enjoyed being the "Bomb disposal guy".

And on his side, Elijah Slervansk was the exact opposite. He was one of the most experienced agents Eclipse had. He had one talk with Hanson, only because "Eli" wanted to "Have everything straight". He had always wanted to talk with all his superiors to know the system. Something all his former officers appreciated.

Bogart knocked the door. Hanson appeared violently, opening. "Please guys, come in."

The team entered, in a kind of small room, which was better illuminated than Snake's office, and had white walls, and a desk. Hanson's office. Bob and Josh only wore their uniforms, while Eli wore his Beret, showing he was an officer. Snake was sitting next to Hanson's chair.

"How you doing, guys?" Snake asked smiling. The three operatives looked to each other confused. "Not used to friendly commandment, huh?" they didn't answer.

Hanson sat down slowly. He was a man who had actually had the weight of the years on his back. "Bob, please, sit down. Eli, Josh, could you please leave?"

"Sir, Ye." Hanson and Snake looked at them strangely, and the two soldiers took the hint. Both of them left.

"So, what do you want from me?" Bob was jumpy, Snake could tell. He didn't like being called without knowing how. He remembered the last time that happened he was kidnapped by the NSA. And specially when the director was there.

"Nothing, Bob." Hanson talked in a very smooth voice now. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm" he said slowly. "Pissed. Why do you care?" His tone of voice jumped.

"Because" Hanson and Snake looked at each other, looking for an effective answer. "Listen, this is gonna take a while. You just talk to him." Snake commented. He left the room, heading the hallway.

Elijah and Josh were still waiting at the door.

"Sergeant Machuttes, Master Sergeant Slervansk" Snake was looking at them in a strange way. "Follow me."

Both officers looked at each other suspecting to see what was going to happen next. Curiosity, according to Joshua. Plain stupidity, according to Elijah.

"Sir." Elijah had the courage to ask.

"Master Sergeant?"

"Sir! With all do respect, sir."

"Cut the crap, Elijah. Remember. If something happens to me and to Sub- Commander Monroe, you'll be the director. As Third-in-Command, you have some authority yourself."

The fact had hit the Kurd like a gunshot. He? Director? "Sir."

"Take it easy. It's not easy, trust me. Listen up." The trio was silent for a second.

"I don't like where this is going" Joshua said.

"Listen. You guys follow me."

"What about Dr. Hanson?" Elijah was being careful. He didn't like Snake calling them in secret, but he didn't like the idea of being the Sub- Assistant Director.

"Bogart is a psychological cage of Pandora. He'll be there for ages."

"What about the guards?"

"They know shit about the plan of the day. They'll take anyone without PRIMACORD strapped to his chest." Snake joked. The couple of officers accepted.

"What do you exactly want us to do?" Joshua walked faster, trying to reach Snake.

"Just shut up." Snake commanded.

Two guards, both armed with M16's, were waiting at a door Snake was taking them to. The door was made of glass, and the trio could see the white corridor following it.

"Commander Snake." One of the grunts in guard uniform spoke quickly. Elijah looked at the soldier in a suspicious manner. Snake was up to something.

The two soldiers checked the two sergeants behind Snake. One of them, quickly checking Joshua's holster, felt a gun. He took it out. A Colt Government M1911A1 .45 Caliber. He was one of the very few people who still used the American pistol as his Side-Arm. Elijah was checked too: He had a Beretta M92FS 9mm. The Kurdish agent felt naked without his Italian pistol.

"No guns allowed" The grunt remarked, as he emptied the sniper's Beretta and kept the 9mm Parabellum magazine in his BDU. The trio kept on walking.

The door opened automatically: Neither of the two Sergeants knew what was going on: Snake had taken them to a high security portion of the base. Joshua kept thinking: Why? What did Snake want to show them? What did he want to tell them? What the goddamn fuck was going on?

Slervansk had even more paranoid thoughts: What if, Snake wanted to kill them? He would. He had the balls. He was now very disturbed without his M9. What if he wanted to get back to their relatives? They were dead, but Eli knew about that kind of guy. He used to be one of them. The enemies just would never be dead enough for them.

They reached a door. Joshua looked around. Guards everywhere. All of them with M16 assault rifles and with black berets. At least six guards were patrolling that white, highly illuminated hall.

The soldiers, all in shaved heads, looked at the trio. Joshua had a military-cut hair. Elijah had a spiky blond hair, something not regular among grunts, but then again, Eclipse agents weren't grunts. Even the director had a mullet.

The door didn't open. They needed a Retinal scan. Snake moved his head nearer the Scanner, reading his brown eyes and opening the door.

COMMANDER SOLID SNAKE : ACCESS GRANTED.

SERGEANT JOSHUA MACHUTTES: ACESS GRANTED.

MASTER SERGEANT ELIJAH SLERVANSK: ACCESS GRANTED:

The female voice sounded in the Scanner's speakers. Snake couldn't help thinking about the woman reading and recording those messages. She probably was killed after it. She already knew the names and ranks of all Eclipse agents.

The door opened, and the three men entered. Inside, Snake found four people. Three of them were FOX-HOUND or NSA specialists, the fourth one, The CTCA, Hal Emmerich. He turned around. Snake in front, Elijah to his left and Joshua to his right, were staring at the scientist.

"Otacon, we need to talk."

Otacon looked worried, and Snake looked around. Someone was installing a VR training equipment. He just couldn't wait to test that thing. He wondered if it was the same model Raiden had used. That would mean that the Patriots could manipulate him more easily. "Snake, I'm kind busy" he started saying, as he leaned to a desk and wrote something. "I have a lot of work to do, and I would be really thankful if we did it some other time." Otacon was acting. He showed Snake the thing he had written.

THERE'S MICROPHONES IN THIS ROOM.

Snake nodded, as his partners looked around, waiting for the two former PHILANTROPY agents to finish whatever they were doing. While Joshua looked around at the technicians putting everything in place, Elijah was focusing on Snake and Hal Emmerich.

Hal Emmerich, graduate of the MIT, one of the top participants of the Shadow Moses Incident. Someone he had to keep an eye on. He had talked to him the first day Otacon and Snake joined Fort Meade, just to gain his trust. He very well knew this character Emmerich had something with his sister. Maybe that was the thing that made him look so non-trustworthy to Eli. But he wasn't sure.

---

"Hal, follow us." Snake ordered, and he met with the two soldiers. "He is Joshua Machuttes. The other guy is Elijah Slervansk, but I think you already know him. They will be our escort." The sergeants looked at each other in surprise.

"Escort of what?" Joshua asked.

"Just walk"

---

The six guards were still in place, this time, a seventh guard was waiting for them.

"Soldier?" Snake asked.

"Sir. Dr. Hanson sent me to look for you. He finished debriefing Corporal Bogart, and he was waiting for you. He started debriefing the rest of Eclipse."

"I'm the director, soldier. As the top authority on this unit, I decide when I move and when I don't."

"Sir, you don't leave me other choice. I have orders from the Director of the National Security Agency." The other grunts started surrounding the group. "You have limited access. Please, sir, come back and I won't report this to."

"Kiss my ass." Snake retorted.

"Sir." This time, the squad raised the M16's to the team.

Snake smiled and nodded. Elijah and Joshua nodded too.

In a flash, Joshua charged one of the grunts, as Elijah kicked other straight in the face. Otacon felt a horrible sensation in his stomach. Snake punched the leader in the nose, who flew back in the air like in those action films.

All three guards were mumbling in the floor. The team looked up: Other four had their M16's trained on the commandos.

"This can't be good."

---

The word between the other team mates was that Solid Snake had forced Machuttes and Slervansk to follow him to prohibited area of the base, and tried to make an illegal conversation with the Technological Advisor, and that he would probably be relieved from duty dishonorably.

It wasn't a general theory on Joshua Machuttes and Elijah Slervansk 's behavior: Most people believed that Snake had forced them to knock out the two security guards. Others thought he had actually threatened them. That one wasn't popular: Snake, being a legend and all, couldn't threat those guys: Joshua could eat nails and ask for seconds, and Elijah wasn't far behind.

Three hours later the incident was the very last thing in the ECLIPSE members minds. They were about to be thrown into their first long-term VR exercise.

----

Writer's note: Again I apologize for not posting in centuries. I'm trying to write very once in a while, but I'm also involved in another fic. Again, I'll try to post as much as possible.